Jamaica’s tourism product has rebounded well from the shuttering impact of COVID and is near to its 2019 levels.

This is a testament to the strength and resilience of the brand, together with the collective efforts of those who shape the sector.

The abiding lesson drawn from the last two years, is that Jamaica though popular with the North American and United Kingdom market, must tap into wider Europe, particularly those eastern countries whose economies are growing, with a middle class looking to vacation in sunny climes.

To this end, the Jamaica Tourist Board (JTB) has embarked on a “new markets trade show” specifically targeting Europe. The trade show began this week and kicked off with a dinner at the Moon Palace Hotel in Ocho Rios, St Ann on Thursday night to welcome European travel agents.

Our Today took time to speak with the JTB’s regional director for Continental Europe, Gregory Shervington about this inaugural trade show.

“The genesis of this was to target continental Europe which includes eastern European countries like Poland, Romania, Czech Republic, Slovakia. We are seeing a number of new tour operators who are interested in developing Jamaica as a destination,” explained Shervington.

The tour operators in Europe sell to travel agencies and they are now selling to consumers online. So, what one has now is the online based-sale and direct to travel agents. The JTB now has to contend with this dual way of getting heads to beds. In terms of distribution, these are the wholesalers. 

These are the buyers looking for the product and coming to the source. The idea therefore is to begin with a familiarisation trip, flying into Jamaica and visiting the three main tourist resort areas namely, Montego Bay in St James, Ocho Rios in St Ann and Negril in Westmoreland.

Shervington continued: “We will be giving them a taste of Jamaica before the trade show starts. They will see the differences between the markets and resort areas and of course  they can form a sound and solid argument with the suppliers who they will be meeting on Tuesday.

“It is broad base with these operators coming from Portugal all the way to Poland, including Luxembourg, Netherlands, France, Spain, Italy, Germany.”

So, is Shervington seeing a significant uptick in these markets particularly eastern Europe? Do they like Jamaica?

“One of the key takeaways from the pandemic was the resilience these markets exhibited. I don’t know if it is their historical characteristics but these markets were less affected by fear and were going to markets that they had established already.

“So, while we saw significant pull back from the G7 countries in terms of health regulations, many of these newer markets in Europe continued to travel particularly to our competitors. They surged into the Dominican Republic, Tanzania, Zanzibar – places that took a more relaxed approach to the protocols.

“We in Jamaica opted to follow the protocols but we have rebounded and so took the first opportunity to welcome these new tour operators. The desire to see new markets and expose their clientele to Jamaica has been encouraging.”

The senior JTB executive also noted that many of these countries border war-torn Ukraine and people are keen to get away from the conflict. There is a keenness to live life to the full, get married in picturesque destinations, because people are aware of the restrictions that can be imposed.

He believes visitor numbers from Europe are not quite there yet but there is a new campaign launched this month that should prove attractive to that market. The JTB has undertaken the branding of buses, trains, taxis in Europe as well as extensive targeted digital campaigns.

It has shown drive and initiative in winning new markets and bolstering Jamaica’s reputation as a top Caribbean destination.

As Shervington succinctly put it, “We take a multi-faceted approach. They come, they see and they show support when they go back to sell because they are fresh from the destination, they know what they will do, they know what properties they will choose and they know the clientele they can effectively market to.”

In terms of airlift, he believes there is enough there with European tourism summers closing at the end of October. With the winter seasoning beginning on October 31, Jamaica will have over 10 flights a day coming in from the continent of Europe. There is capacity the country can fill.